Part One is here

She almost ran straight across the road to her house, forgetting the van-sized unicorn stood by her side. Almost. ‘Lara, could you sort of walk past, have a nosey?’

‘Won’t they be cross at me?’

Scarlet inclined her head at the crowd of onlookers, unashamedly gathered around to dig into their neighbour’s misfortune.

‘Oh, right, well, OK.’

She set off toward the house. Scarlet watched her go, one hand unconsciously patting Elt’s broad shoulder. Lara wandered slowly past, looped around and went back the other way, trying, and utterly failing, to look casual. She was almost back when Scarlet spotted mum being led from the house in tears.

‘What happened?’

‘The lounge is destroyed, you know, TV smashed apart and everything. I think your mum’s alright, just really upset.’

Scarlet fingered the necklace. Lucky the book was with Martin. What she didn’t have was her laptop. Her laptop. The world froze, everything reducing down to a tiny point of light that shrunk until she was staring at blackness, a gulf threatening to rise up and swallow her whole.

‘Scarlet? Scarlet, what’s wrong?’

The lights came back on, beginning in the middle of her vision and swimming slowly out, until she saw Lara’s face, brow furrowed with worry, peering down at her. She sat up, noticing the hard edges of the kerb beneath her. ‘What happened?’

‘You collapsed. God, are you alright?’

She sat up rubbing her neck. ‘My laptop. They’ve got my laptop.’

‘But they already know what we know, whoever they are, don’t they?’

‘Huh? Oh, yeah, course they do. It’s…’

Lara thought she was worried about the end of the world. Hah. They’d taken her laptop. How the hell was she supposed to use Tumblr on her phone? Or facebook, or pinterest for that matter?

Lara pulled her to her feet and she turned back to the house. ‘I’m not sure we want to go in. They’ll have questions and if anyone’s watching the house…’

Lara laughed. ‘Then there’s always the matter of the unicorn.’

Elt harrumphed. ‘I’m perfectly good at not being seen, thank you very much. But we should go, now.’

‘Why, what’s the hurry?’

Elt looked at her. ‘We’re in one of the crappier parts of west London, if my nose serves my right, so you tell me.’

Scarlet returned the look with interest, but she couldn’t argue. They took the roundabout route through the estate to Martin’s place. They reached the corner before Lara shook her head. ‘Look, I’m sorry, but I have to get home. If the police aren’t out looking for me yet, they will be soon.’

Scarlet nodded. Of course, she should have thought of that. They faced one another, hands brushing. ‘So, hey, good first date, huh?’

Lara giggled. ‘I’d always dreamed of walking romantically by a river, maybe having dinner somewhere.’

‘How old are you again?’

They both laughed and Scarlet stepped closer, pressing her lips to Lara’s, their noses brushing together. She closed her eyes, one hand cupping the back of Lara’s head. A snort from the unicorn made both of them jump and they broke apart, faces red.

‘Lara, if you’re in a hurry, I can probably help.’ Elt knelt and Lara climbed onto his back. Scarlet frowned for a second, seeing her unicorn about to disappear. Then she looked higher and realised he wasn’t going away with a stranger, but with her girlfriend. Girlfriend. Heh.

Lara gave a little wave without moving her arm and they were gone, moving so fast Scarlet could barely make them out beneath the street lamps.

She sighed and turned for Martin’s place.

He was asleep on the couch, book lying flat on his chest, and she removed it gently, pulling a cover over him before settling in his desk chair and looking at the page he’d been reading.

The picture was still just as horrible and her stomach turned over as she swallowed. The writing was spidery and made mum’s scrawl look like calligraphy. She deciphered it slowly, discovering in the process that the charms of Undoing were three objects, items or people, each integral to the spell that would banish the Undying.

The next three pages outlined the spell and by the time she reached the end, she felt exhausted. She put the book down, grabbed another blanket and covered herself as the night drifted slowly on. She was jerked awake by a grunt from Martin. Reluctantly opening her eyes, she watched him stand, stretch and look down at her, wry smile on his face.

‘Good morning, my apprentice. How was your night?’

Scarlet woke fully, twitching her head back and forth and rubbing her crick neck. ‘Like you wouldn’t believe. We found the horse.’

Martin’s eyes widened and he sat, leaning forward until he was way too close and way too alive. ‘Hey, just, chill for a second, please. I’ve just woken up. You shouldn’t actually be looking at me for at least an hour. God, I must look like crap.’

‘You look perfectly nice. Where is the horse?’

‘Perfectly nice? You might wanna work on your complimenting-women-skills sometime, sunshine.’

Martin smiled broadly. ‘Is that your sass showing, Scarlet?’

She stared and he smiled blithely back. She grumbled, rubbing her face with her hands, then staring in horror at the foundation now clinging to her palms. She sighed, shook her head, and stood, peering fearfully into the mirror that hung above his desk.

Once she’d recovered from the shock she sat back down, despairing of ever having anything approaching a normal life. Martin was still waiting.

‘Fine, OK, it’s not a horse, it’s a unicorn.’

He stood, hands clapping together, then sat again. ‘You brought a unicorn here?’

‘Didn’t have much choice, did we? And by the way, did you know that unicorns are, like, really unpleasant, and kill people and stuff?’

‘Of course I did. Why do think they’re all kept as far north as possible without them actually freezing?’

Scarlet almost punched him. Almost. Instead, she looked at her hands, at the veins pulsing beneath the foundation, and sighed. ‘So all this time, you’ve had a sixteen year old girl for an apprentice, and you’ve never thought to mention that unicorns are real, and live in England—’

‘Scotland, actually, and Russia.’

‘Yeah, whatever, please, I’m trying to make you feel bad. How could you not tell me?’

Martin spread his hands apart. ‘It just didn’t come up. You brought one here? Where is it?’

‘It’s taking Lara home.’

‘Taking Lara home? Like a taxi?’

‘Uh, yeah, I guess so.’

There was silence for a moment as her self-righteous anger was squeezed from her by his glare. Finally he let out a sigh and stood, actually wringing his hands.

‘So, hey, how was your night?’

He paused, apparently deciding whether to answer, or throttle her. Fortunately he settled on the former.

‘Well, I confirmed that the charms are the necklace, the book and the unicorn.’

He said the last one whilst staring at her. ‘The unicorn, that must remain safe and secret and not in any way be seen galloping the streets of London.’

‘Uh, yeah, right. OK, so we’ve got the charms then. What next?’

‘Well. We also have the location of the grave. However, there is one thing missing. I called a few people I know, trying to obtain a clearer picture of who is attempting the raising.’

‘And?’

He shook his head. ‘No one knows. All we have to go on is the man who stabbed me, and all I remember about him is that he wore black. Beyond that, we have nothing.’

‘Actually, we might have more. My house got trashed last night. I mean, completely destroyed. Maybe they left something behind, some sort of clue?’

Martin looked shocked for all of two seconds, before excitement took over. ‘Good, great, we’ll start there then.’

She stared at him, eyebrows raised, and he had the decency to look ashamed. ‘That’s terrible. Is your mother alright?’

‘Yeah, think so. Didn’t go in, too much to do…’

It was his turn to give her a look and she grinned sheepishly. Then it struck her. ‘Hang on, there is something else I can do.’

She pulled the necklace out of her pocket and took a deep breath. ‘When I put this on, in the market, I heard voices. They were threatening to kill me.’

‘You are sure it was you?’ He didn’t seem all that surprised. Or worried about the death threats. She nodded. ‘They called me the Slater girl.’

‘OK, so they know about you, which we already know.’ He stared at her, expectantly. ‘Well, put it on, then.’

She hesitated. ‘Not sure I wanna listen to people talking about killing me.’

He sighed, folding his arms, and she stuck her tongue out at him, then slipped it over her head. They came straight back.

‘She has all the charms.’

‘How did she find them?’

‘She is more resourceful than we thought. We must take action now, this cannot be allowed to interfere with the raising.’

‘They didn’t take your warning to heart, brother, that is most odd. Are you sure you made your point effectively.’

She recognised the next voice, and shivered.

‘I made my point very well indeed. She is stubborn and more than a little stupid, I fear.’

‘Hey, I am not stupid. Maths is just a stupid subject, it’s not my fault they put letters in it, I mean, letters don’t belong in maths, everyone knows that.’

Martin couldn’t hear anything through the necklace, but he had his finger to his lips anyway and she stopped. The voices went on, as though they’d paused when she started speaking. This thing was cool.

‘So what do suggest next, brother?’

When the man who stabbed Martin replied, his voice made her want to take a shower.

‘Well, brother Errant, how about we take away her new girlfriend?’

She yanked the necklace off, and reached for her jacket.

Next Installment Friday 14th March

Part One is here

Lara squeaked and ran out of the shadows to cling to Scarlet. The magician pulled back his robes and she realised that he was a she. She had the kind of voice one expected from a guy called Dave who wore dresses at weekends and tried to cover his adam’s apple with foundation, but there was no doubt what sex she was.

She was gorgeous, in a posh sort of way, and had the most amazing hair. She could feel Lara thinking exactly the same thing, as they stared at the jet-black wall that flowed free of the hood and drifted down to her waist. Yeah, she sounded like a man, but she looked great.

She was also smiling. ‘Don’t worry, my dear. Had the king wanted you imprisoned, you certainly would be, do not doubt it.’

She swayed over, gaze flicking between them. ‘It is essential that we maintain the semblance of strict governance. It enables us to rule effectively, without ever having to use force on our people.’

Our? ‘So why didn’t he want us imprisoned? I mean, Elt did try and kill him.’

She sighed, resting her hand against the unicorn’s nose. ‘Elt tries every now and then. The loss of his horn drove him mad, a little, I fear. Not one of our better decisions, but it had to be done.’

‘Why?’ Lara almost shouted and Scarlet was surprised to see her eyes were damp. She stepped past Scarlet, chin thrust out and she grinned, enjoying the fire.

‘He was killing people. Most unicorns do, once they reach maturity. A young unicorn is a pleasure to have around, magical in everything they do. Once they flower, everything changes. It becomes about territory and establishing the next generation. Had we not settled here, perhaps he could have flourished, but we needed land and lord knows, there’s plenty of space.’

Scarlet shook her head. ‘Unicorns don’t kill people, they’re lovely and friendly and—’

‘Yes, for the first twenty or so years of their lives, they are exactly that. But beyond that time, they become aggressive, violent creatures, utterly unwilling to listen to reason and grumpy to boot. And, as in the case of Elt, they may also become deceptive and manipulative.’

She looked away. ‘Anyway, we are paying for our crime many times over, and I didn’t wait around to be lectured by a pair of schoolgirls.’

She folded her arms over her chest and looked down her nose at them. Scarlet gave her a sheepish grin. ‘Yeah, sorry, fair enough. So, will you free him?’

‘I will, but there is something you should know. The king’s decision is simple and fair and it is that Elt’s banishment will now be absolute. He will travel with you to Earth and he will stay there. He will no longer be welcome in Illest. Is that understood?’

They both nodded. Scarlet stared at the beast beside her. She was getting her own unicorn. Admittedly, it was a mad, violent unicorn without a horn, but still. Cool.

‘Are you going to tell him?’

The magician shook her head. ‘No I am not. I think it best for me to be some distance away when I let the spell finish. It will be up to you to explain to him what has been decided. Please, make it clear. If he returns, we will kill him.’

Scarlet nodded and the magician faded back into the darkness before disappearing altogether. She had to get Martin to show her that one. Scarlet jumped as Elt’s hooves came crashing down on the dais. He shouted, loud, wordless, shaking his entire body, then set off galloping around the throne room.

His hooves slammed into the throne, sending it crashing to the floor. He caught chairs and they flew across the space, one striking the wall and shattering. Scarlet shouted at him. ‘Elt, stop it, please, cut it out. Come on, COME ON.’

Lara shouted. Scarlet winced, moving to one side.

‘ELT, THAT IS ENOUGH. STOP THIS INSTANT.’

To Scarlet’s, and apparently Lara’s, amazement, it worked. The unicorn dropped to all fours, snorting and stamping, flanks heaving. Scarlet took a step, but Lara came past, putting her hand on his side and patting him vigorously, stroking his neck as he calmed.

She turned and gave Scarlet a look, eyebrows raised, and she gave her the thumbs up. After a while the unicorn turned its eyes to them, head lifting slowly. ‘Sorry, s’pose.’

‘You should be. But I get it. I don’t have a, you know, horn, but if someone took my magic away, I’d be, like, really pissed.’

He shook his long head. ‘It’s not just my magic, it’s my people. When they chopped my horn off, they stole my ability to have children. The unicorn’s are finished on this planet.’ He snorted, flicking his head toward the ceiling. ‘The End of Days? That is here because of what they did. A magical world cannot exist without unicorns.’

Scarlet raised her eyebrows, trying not to smirk. ‘Is it me, or have we just stepped into a really bad fairy tale?’

The unicorn went for her, lips pulled back from his yellowing teeth. Lara got between them and he stopped, snorting, head shaking from side to side. His eyes were rolling and she was reminded of what the magician said. He was young no longer, no longer the friendly creature of myth.

‘Whoah, easy fella. You’re the one who betrayed us, remember, you don’t have the right to get grouchy.’

‘My people are dead and when I die, another world is left empty. Don’t tell me what I can or can’t be.’

Lara flapped her hands, voice high and just a little shrill. ‘Stop it, both of you, please? This is no good. We have to go home and we have to do it now and you have to get along. Please.’

Scarlet looked at the floor, face reddening, and Elt did something similar, only without the redness. Lara opened her mouth and turned to Scarlet, then stopped, frowning. She turned back to Elt.

‘Hang on. If a magical world can’t exist and Earth has magic… Why are there no unicorns on earth?’

Elt whickered and shook his head. ‘How sure are you about that?’

Scarlet and Lara looked at one another, wide-eyed, and laughed. ‘Yeah, OK, that’s pretty cool. I wonder where they are?’

‘I wouldn’t be surprised if Homeland Security have them locked up somewhere.’

Scarlet nodded, keeping the smile. She wasn’t entirely sure what Homeland security was, but she was certain it featured in the Avengers movie somewhere. So the Avengers had them. Bastards.

Lara pulled at her arm. ‘Can we go home now, please?’

Scarlet pulled the spell book out, set out the ingredients, and chanted slowly. The light appeared and holding Lara’s hand, she rested her other hand on Elt’s back and guided them through.

She imagined the street in front of her house and they appeared there, beneath the light of the street lamp. She sighed, the familiar smell of west London making her eyes go damp. Then she froze.

There were two police cars pulled up in front of her house, lights flashing, and she could see the wreckage of the lounge window, shattered glass flickering in the blue.

Next Installment Wednesday 12th March

Part One is here

Scarlet froze, staring in horror as the unicorn smashed through the soldiers, sending them flying to either side as it mounted the stairs to the throne. Then the paralysis broke and she pulled out her spell book, flicking desperately through the pages.

Pandemonium broke out around them, the courtiers screaming and running for the exits. More guards came charging out of hiding and Lara grabbed her arm. ‘What’s happening?’

She managed to mumble. ‘What do you think? We’ve been lied to. Not the first time,’ before diving back into the spell book. But she had no time to find anything and silence struck the hall. The assembled throng stared, open mouthed, and Scarlet looked up at the throne.

Elt was frozen, rearing up, his forelegs kicking out toward where the king still sat apparently unruffled by the entire thing. The unicorn looked magnificent, every muscle bunched and ready to strike, but his eyes were still moving, frenziedly flicking this way and that.

A cowled figure stepped out from behind the throne, one hand held out toward the unicorn. Hmm, poser or just having to work really hard? Elt was big, it couldn’t be an easy spell. She decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. Considering what would have happened to her and Lara if Elt had been successful, it was the least she could do.

The magician strode around the dais to stand near Scarlet and Lara, then bowed to the king, who nodded in return.

He leaned forward again, hands now gripping the arms of his throne. ‘This is most unfortunate. Did you think I would leave myself helpless?’

Lara stepped forward and knelt. ‘King Ilest, please believe me, we had no idea he intended to attack you. Had we known we would never have come here. He told us you had stopped anyone using magic and that we had to speak to you.’

The king sat back, chin resting in his cupped hands. ‘So you are as much his victims as I. That doesn’t surprise me. Shameful, though, that two resourceful young women such as yourselves wouldn’t check before coming here.’

Scarlet couldn’t stop herself. ‘Look, we’ve never been here before. How were we supposed to check? And why shouldn’t we believe him, he’s going to help save our world.’

The king chuckled, turning his sharp eyes toward her. ‘Your voice is odd. Are you lacking, perhaps, the character and breeding of your friend.’

Scarlet ground her teeth together, but stayed silent. She was aware of the hundreds of people surrounding them, watching them, and sweat formed on her neck. She didn’t like this guy anymore.

The king was still staring at her and his left eyelid drooped, just a little. It could have been a wink. Or he could just be bored or tired or too lazy to keep it open. Had he nodded as well?

His next gesture was all too clear. The king shook his head. ‘I understand your point, but alas, it is incumbent upon you to have discerned the nature of your companion before choosing to travel with him.’

He sat back and waved a hand. Lara had just enough time to explain to Scarlet what he meant before the guards descended, grabbed their arms and hauled them from the throne room. Elt was where they had left him, frozen solid halfway up the dais. She heard the king musing before the door slammed closed.

‘Perhaps we should keep him here, as a warning. Can you keep him in this state for ever—’

They were in a narrow corridor, the way lit by more lamps, but these were different, dripping burning bits of straw or something on them as they were pushed along. They went down a set of stairs and through a set of doors, each thicker than any sensible door had the need to be.

The corridor they entered next made the city smell like daisies and she gagged. Lara was in front of her, shoulders hunched, head hanging down. Scarlet had the overwhelming urge to hold her and when they were tossed into a cell, it was the first thing she did.

Lara shook, burying her face in Scarlet’s top and she soon felt the tears as they soaked through it.

‘Hey, it’s gonna be fine, don’t worry.’

Lara looked up, red-rimmed eyes and pale face. ‘How is it going to be fine? They’ve put us in p-p-prison.’

This was clearly the worst thing that could possibly have happened. Scarlet shook her head and put her hands on Lara’s cheeks. ‘Hey, calm down, it’s fine, really. Look, they’ve left us our clothes, which means I’ve got my spell book and ingredients. There’s nothing to worry about. If they really wanted to keep us here, they’d have chained us up or something.’

She stepped back and the unmistakable clink of chains striking her heel made them both jump, before Lara whimpered and buried her face again. Scarlet stared at the wall. When did she become the cool and calm one? She should be taking photos, this would make an amazing background for Facebook.

She couldn’t let go of Lara, though, nor did she want to. Instead, she pushed her gently away, just enough for her face to leave her t-shirt and their eyes to meet. Then she kissed her. This time it was more. Of everything. She had to stop when she realised she was breathing heavy and at risk of sounding like a creepy stalker type.

Lara’s chest was rising and falling fast, her cheeks flushed, and Scarlet realised her girlfriend felt the same way. Girlfriend. Heh.

They found a spot on the floor, just large enough for them both to sit and cuddle together and ignore the sounds from down the corridor. The groans were bearable, like the smell, but the screams made her shudder every time.

Some time passed. Then some more. They tried to talk, but the circumstances made for a pretty awkward first date and every time Scarlet thought they were getting somewhere, another scream would have them hugging, conversation forgotten. Which wasn’t all bad.

After what felt like days, but was probably closer to hours, Scarlet stood, stretched, and went to the door of the cell. The iron was rusted and damp and she pulled her sleeve up to cover her hand before grabbing it and pulling hard.

She nearly fell over as the door swung easily open. Lara gasped and jumped up, stepping to the door and peering out into the corridor. Scarlet joined her and they waited, taking tiny quiet breaths, expecting at any moment someone to leap out and attack. Or, you know, tell them off.

Finally, Scarlet stepped out and pulled Lara along with her. They headed through the doors and up the stairs, her heart rate increasing with every step she took. There were no doors, nowhere to hide if someone appeared at the top and she was bathed in sweat long before they reached the door.

Reach it they did, though and she cracked it slowly open, peering round it. The corridor that ran down to the throne room was dark, only one lantern left at the far end. She was about to step through when Lara pulled her sleeve, whispering in a voice that seemed far too loud.

‘What are we doing? I mean, we have to take Elt with us, correct?’

Scarlet nodded.

‘So if he’s still in the throne room, how do we rescue him, if he’s, you know, all frozen still?’

Scarlet leaned back against the wall, pulling her spell book out and flipping through it. The last fifty or so pages were covered in her own, bizarrely neat hand writing. It bore no resemblance to the inside of her brain whatsoever.

She knew there was nothing in there that would help, so she returned to earlier, to mum’s shopping-list scrawl and flicked page after page.

For the freeing of objects stuck in time.

She showed it to Lara, who shrugged. ‘Is he stuck in time?’

‘I don’t know. It’s the best thing in here, it’s the only thing in here that looks anywhere close to good. How else might he be stuck?’

Lara shrugged again. ‘Like, physically frozen?’

‘He wasn’t cold though. Didn’t look cold, anyway. We don’t have anything else, so let’s try it at least. If it doesn’t work we can think of something else.’

Lara nodded reluctantly. ‘You’re assuming we’re going to get into the throne room without getting killed, maimed, or imprisoned.’

‘I consider myself an optimist.’

Lara smiled and pecked her on the lips and she stayed right where she was, grinning like an idiot. Lara nodded toward the throne room, expectant look on her face, and Scarlet sighed and pushed herself away from the wall. There was a lot to be said for being locked in a small room with your girlfriend. No interruptions, no reason to go anywhere else. Girlfriend. Heh.

She slipped through the door, Lara on her heels, and they ran down to the next door. She was running, actual real running. No wonder she felt so weird.

She opened the door to the throne room the tiniest amount and peered around it. Pools of dim, fluttering light were cast by occasional lamps, but the place was empty and silent. Holding her breath, she slipped out of the door and stood in the darkness, waiting for Lara to join her.

They waited some more, alternating shallow breaths, eyes trying to pierce the shadows cast across the throne room. The one thing they were sure of was Elt, still frozen and standing in the centre of the room. His eyes were vacant, not able to close, not able to even blink.

She stared for another second, then nipped quickly across to stand beside him. She stared up into the huge eye, her fists curling into balls.

‘Why did you lie to us? Was it just so you could get in here and attack him? Man, that’s lame, that’s totally lame.’

‘But not surprising, once you know him. Elt comes from a long line of animals grossly misrepresented by mythology, both here and on your native planet.’

She jumped as the robed magician emerged from the shadows.

Next Installment Monday 10th March

Part One is here

Scarlet stared at the guard, deciding how to react. In the end, Lara made the choice for her. ‘So if he’s a murderer, how come he’s allowed back in the city?’

The guard shrugged, nonchalant. ‘He’s done his punishment, ain’t he? He’s banished out there, lost his horn. That’s enough for anyone to deal with. The king’s a fair man. He’s welcome to come and go, just can’t stay here, you understand.’

They exchanged glances and Scarlet shrugged as well. They needed him, if not here, then back home, to stop the Undying. After what happened in the Underworld she could believe that anyone might be a killer. She squeezed her eyes closed and Lara took her arm, whispering to her. ‘Are you alright?’

She blinked. ‘Yeah, yeah, I’m fine, just… we get him in, yeah?’

She nodded. ‘We need him, we have to get home.’

Scarlet turned to the guard. ‘Thanks for the warning. Can he come in now please?’

The guard grunted, but waved a hand and behind him the gates creaked slowly open. A gap appeared, large enough for Elt to slip through. He bucked his head, snorting, and as soon as his tail was through the gates closed up again.

The guards made no effort to disguise their hatred as they stared at Elt, but the unicorn didn’t stop, trotting straight past them and down the street. Scarlet and Lara scampered after him, waving their thanks to the guards.

Lara tugged at her arm. ‘Do we trust him?’

Scarlet realised that Lara was deferring to her in all sorts of things. Was it because she could do magic? It had to be cos there was no way she was more responsible. ‘I dunno. Do we have any choice?’

They caught Elt as he paused for a moment. Scarlet fixed both eyes on one of his, clearing her throat. ‘So, the guards mentioned you may have killed someone, you know, before…’

She nodded at the stump and the unicorn dropped his head, snorting. ‘Course they told you that, that’s what the sod up in the castle told ‘em. The city was told a story bout me so they wouldn’t rebel when I was mutilated. I was cast out so they didn’t have to be reminded of what they’d done. Bloody humans, present comp’ny excepted course.’

He shook his head, forcing her to take a step back. Fair enough. She was, oddly, more inclined to believe the talking horse than the perfectly nice people at the gate, which said a lot about how her world had changed in the last six months. Actually, she’d always have believed the talking horse, I mean come on, a talking horse.

‘Will you take us to the king now please?’

He went down to his knees again and they scrambled up. The city was filthy and loud and in many other ways, much like London. There were fewer shops but more stalls, rickety wooden things attached to the sides of buildings, offering every kind of food and weapon known to man.

There were also all sorts of people, men in tight-fitting outfits with skin the colour of ink, women wearing next to nothing parading themselves and shouting out prices. Scarlet could feel the heat from Lara’s cheeks as she buried them in her back.

Everyone was carrying a weapon of some sort, be it a sword, or a knife, or an axe. A number of the smartly dressed types carried these tiny axes with thin handles. She wasn’t convinced they’d be all that handy in a fight, but the handles were engraved and inset with all sorts of beautiful symbols, which was probably the point. Some things never change, no matter where you are.

She lost herself, keeping no track of where they were going as the city swallowed her up. The reality of their situation was beginning to sink in and she found herself blinking a lot and waiting for the horse and carts to become cars and the real world to come back into focus.

But this was entirely real, there was no denying that. They passed what could only be a pub in time to see two men come flying out the door, arms swinging. They hit the road before them and as Elt circled around, she saw one man laying blow after blow on the other’s face, blood spraying as his nose exploded.

She swallowed, seeing instead the blood flowing from underneath Martin, and turned away. This world was all too real and all too similar to back home. What was wrong with loving one another, or at the least, doing what she did and hating from a distance?

The buildings fell away as they emerged from the streets into a huge open space. Before them lay the castle. The front door looked more like a cathedral, huge pointy things sticking up to the sky like the architect was really compensating. There were hundreds of carvings and sculptures lining every edge.

The space was awash with people, some heading into the castle, others using it as a thoroughfare. Elt demanded room in a loud, piercing voice and the crowds parted. She thought the sight of a grumpy unicorn the size of an elephant, with no horn, would probably have done the trick. Now they were staring at her, and that was never a good thing.

Soon, though, they arrived at the castle gates. The guards here were considerably more alert and stood to bar the way.

‘State your business.’

Scarlet cleared her throat, then nudged Lara. ‘You’re much better at this.’

Lara tried to hide behind her for a moment, before sighing and sitting up. ‘We request an audience with the king.’

‘Upon what matter do you wish to see him?’

‘We have come to your world through error, and wish to leave.’

‘So leave.’

‘We can only do so through magical means, and require his permission.’

The guard looked at her funny, but nodded and stepped aside. ‘If you say so. You’ll need to speak to the clerk. He’s at the desk, other end of the courtyard.’

His eyes moved to the unicorn and as they went to pass through the gate, he put his hand on Elt’s chest. ‘No trouble, you understand?’

He was talking to Elt, but she answered for him. ‘Yeah, of course, we just want to get home.’

The guard transferred his gaze up to her and stared for a good long while. She could felt Elt shifting beneath her, like he was itching to run and she dug her knees in, hoping that was right thing to do. He steadied as the guard nodded. ‘On your head, young lady.’

They trotted through and into a courtyard as big as her school, and once again filled with people. Was nothing small and cosy here? They wound their slow way through the crowds until they reached the clerk, who, following a great deal of sniffing and jotting of things into a book, waved them on.

The next door was large enough for them to pass through riding, but once they were inside, two guards demanded they climb down and led them forward into a huge chamber. She used the word chamber, because it just felt right. Everything was made of stone and rich dark wood; even the chairs fancy like they were from Harrods. Room just wouldn’t have cut it.

They were bade to wait and she and Lara settled themselves onto one of the benches, Elt standing close to the wall, whickering quietly. There were lots of other people in here and most of them looked nervous, clutching bags or hats, fidgeting. Every now and then a man would come in and say someone’s name in an overloud voice and one of the waiting would jump up, wide-eyed, and rush over to the door.

Lara nudged Scarlet and nodded at Elt. ‘How are we supposed to hide him, when we get home?’

Excellent question. ‘Good question, no idea. Let’s get home first.’

‘My parents are going to be so angry.’

‘Couldn’t you just blame me?’

Lara laughed and shook her head. ‘Let me think. Hi mum and dad, so sorry I’m a day late. On the plus side, I’m gay and I have a new girlfriend, and she made me a day late, but we didn’t do anything wrong. Um, would you like to meet her?’

Scarlet blushed. ‘Yeah, fair point. Do they really have no idea?’

‘Why would they know? We only talk about school stuff, and dad keeps trying to get me to talk about current affairs, and that’s cool, I suppose, but that’s it. They don’t really know me, not like that.’

Scarlet shook her head. Mum was stupid and annoying and try hard and a whole bunch of other stuff, but she knew the important things. She knew Scarlet was gay and that she missed dad and that Disney was what the world was supposed to be like, before all the boring normal people ruined it. And she did magic, though not so much anymore.

Scarlet took Lara’s hand and squeezed it. ‘I’m sorry, that actually sucks.’

‘It’s okay, really, I mean, it’s not the end of the world. I can’t complain, they love me and everything and they do care, they just aren’t very good at talking about it.’

She didn’t pull her hand away and Scarlet was happy just to sit and feel her fingers wrapped around hers, until the voice of the announcer made her jump by saying her name and Lara’s and Elt’s.

They stood, more calmly she was pleased to note, than the others and headed for the door. They were led down a long passageway and the announcer man talked the entire way.

‘You are about to meet King Ilest, ruler of Illest—’

‘Snappy name for the country. Did he come up with that on his own?’

The man continued as though she hadn’t spoken. ‘He is a just and noble king, and it is expected that you show him the proper obeisance—’

‘Huh?’

Lara hissed in her ear. ‘He means you have to bow.’

‘Oh.’

‘At all times, listen, be respectful, and do not interrupt him.’ He glared daggers at Scarlet when he said that. Oops.

‘His word is law, literally, so if he says something you don’t like, nod, smile and leave the chamber. Do not argue. Do not question. Accept what you are told, and leave. I have seen people beheaded for disagreeing with his view of the weather. He is in a good mood today, and I would thank you to keep him there.’

They reached another door, which swung open as they approached. Through the gap, Scarlet could see flaming torches and women clad in those long, shapeless dresses they wore in dodgy period dramas. Man, who the hell invented them? She couldn’t believe any man or woman ever truly wanted a woman to look that bad.

She could also see a dirty red strip of carpet running along the flag stone floor and at the end, set up on a dais, was the throne. On the throne sat the largest man she’d ever seen in her life.

They stepped through the door, taking in the high ceiling, the sconces eerily like the ones they had in hell, and the hundreds of people lining the walls, chattering and laughing. As Elt came in behind them, the chatter ceased completely, every eye fixed on the unicorn.

‘Nothing like making an entrance.’

The man led them up the carpet until they stood before the throne. Guards emerged from the shadows around them to close ranks before the king, who, with a supreme effort, sat forward.

Every part of him wobbled. It was like watching ‘diet camp’, one of those nasty American reality shows where people who had clearly eaten other people were made to wobble for the amusement of others. Scarlet knew she was overweight, but in the shadow of the king, she felt remarkably slim.

His voice was impressive however, booming out to fill the hall and silence the voices that had risen again to discuss the newcomers.

‘Welcome to my hall. You have arrived in the presence of a murderer, which it would be fair to say, is never the best way to make an impression.’

Lara stepped forward and Scarlet held her hands together in front of her, swelling with pride.

‘King Ilest.’

She curtseyed, just like in the movies, and Scarlet giggled. She thought about doing the same, but realised she would almost certainly fall on her arse and settled for bowing instead. It felt right.

‘I apologise, truly, for bringing one so out of favour into your hall. However, we came here in search of him and will, with your permission, be taking him away from Illest, at least for a time. Can I also say that until we arrived in your fair city, we were unaware of his history.’

Elt twitched, his flanks moving constantly, rolling back and forth as he shifted position. She patted him and rubbed a hand down his side. It felt more than a little intrusive, but he seemed to calm slightly.

The king inclined his head. ‘We accept your apology. What permission is it you seek?’

‘We need to leave here, through magical means, and for that, of course, we need your permission.’

The king frowned, shaking his head. ‘You need no permission for that. The magical laws extend only as far as magical weapons, and other items that may be deemed dangerous, but I have extended exemptions for plows and pitchforks in recent times. You may leave when you want.’

Lara turned, her eyes wide, looking first at Scarlet, then joining her in staring at Elt. The unicorn looked sheepish, which would have been funny had he not turned from them and leaped at the king.

Next Installment Friday 7th March

Part One is here

Lara grabbed Scarlet’s hand, staring at her with eyes wide, and she felt the now-familiar sinking that meant things weren’t going to plan. ‘You mean we can’t get out of here? Oh goodness, my parents are going to lose it.’

‘Not how you’re thinking of doing it. All you can do is petition the king, and hope he sees things your way.’

Scarlet sighed. There were days like this. Days when the canteen was invariably sold out of cookies and maths was period five and you had a detention for some reason that made no sense in anyone’s world save the teacher’s. She glanced across at her pale, shaking, girlfriend. Girlfriend. Heh. Had Lara ever had a detention? Somehow, she doubted it.

‘Have you ever had a detention?’

The unicorn and Lara both gave her the same look of complete incomprehension and she giggled. Days like these. They seemed to be happening more and more often. She turned to the unicorn. ‘OK, first things first, what’s your name?’

‘What do you care? Happenstance was a popular one, but Elt’s the most recent. Ain’t been called much of anything in the last sixty years.’

‘Wow. Still better than being called something nasty I guess.’

‘Not really.’

‘Oh, OK, well, my name’s Joanna, this is Lara. Where are we?’

‘You’re in the Kingdom of Illest, once a beautiful and flowering land and now bent, busted and broken beneath the End of Days.’

‘Yeah, about that, sounds nasty. It’s not going to happen anytime really soon, is it?’

The unicorn made a sound Scarlet was fairly certain was a laugh. Like a cement mixer clearing its throat. ‘I’ll call you Elt, if that’s OK?’

‘It’ll do.’

Lara grabbed Scarlet’s hand and pulled. ‘Look, I don’t mean to sound all hysterical, but we’re trapped, in some magical land—’

‘Hah, that’s a joke. This place is anything but magical. My horn was taken during the scourge. Now all the magic’s in the palace, hidden away, ‘safe’.’

‘But why?’

‘The king’s paranoid, isn’t he? He’s also stupid, and ignorant, and twa—’

‘Um, so, I’m not sorry I sound hysterical anymore. Could someone please listen to me. We’re stuck here, we have no way to get home and my parents are expecting me for tea.’

Lara checked her watch and swallowed. ‘In about an hour. They will seriously lose it, I mean, you don’t want to see my dad lose it. What are we going to do?’

It was fair question and Scarlet realised her girlfriend’s mood wasn’t going to be bettered by a compliment about how it made her cheeks all pinky and pretty. Girlfriend. Heh.

‘Elt, you said we could petition the king, right?’

‘Not got much other choices.’

‘Great, could you, like, take us there please?’

Elt rolled his eyes, but lowered himself to the grass, resting on his knees. Scarlet turned to Lara, bouncing on the spot and waving her clenched fists in front of her chin. ‘Oh my god, we’re actually going to ride a unicorn. I mean, I don’t mean to come over all geeky, but that’s just amazing. Eeep.’

She stretched her leg over and tried to get comfortable as Lara, rather hesitantly, got on behind. She sighed as her arms wrapped around her waist and her head rested against her back. This could be cooler but she had no idea how. Oh, hang on, maybe ice creams, or chocolate.

Elt stood and they shifted around, getting balanced. He began to walk and she felt something surround her, like being in water, and as the walk sped to a gallop she realised there was no way they were falling off. Within moments, the grass beneath them was a blur, the forest coming rapidly closer.

They reached the edge of it and Elt turned, running parallel, tree roots flashing by beneath him. Lara was gripping her like she was an advanced copy of the new Harry Potter. Not that there ever would be a new Harry Potter. It was finished and for a moment, she struggled to breathe, her chest heavy. Then she felt the arms tight around her and smiled into the wind.

The trees were blurring and the breath was pinched from her mouth as they moved faster and faster. Within moments, the forest fell away and they were passing over a plain, then a road, dark stone beneath his feet.

He slowed suddenly and she gasped, wanting to feel glamorous but fairly certain her hair looked like she’d been trapped in a wind tunnel. At least Lara would look the same. She glanced over her shoulder to see her girlfriend quickly tying her hair back with a scrunchy. Dammit. Girlfriend. Heh.

Ahead lay a city, the likes of which she’d only seen in her mind, deep in one fantasy novel or another. Huge walls of dirty grey stone blocked the horizon and up and down them, baskets and pallets and all manner of things were being hauled. The top was lined with winches, and it was directly beneath one of the larger ones that Elt came to a stop.

He knelt and they slid off, wobbly for a minute, as he explained.

‘The king don’t like to open the gate. Like I say, paranoid, so most everything goes in and out via the winches. They’ll let you in, easy enough, but once you’re there, be a love and come let me in too. I’m considered safe enough now…’

He trailed off and she saw the pain he had kept hidden until now. She nodded and looked up the wall. A face, half covered in dirt, peered down. ‘Business?’

‘Uh, we want to see the king?’

‘Look on a coin then.’

She sighed. It was like that. She waited for the words to come, like they had before, only this time they didn’t. She turned to Lara. ‘Could you ask, you know, nicely?’

Lara stepped forward and looked up, cupping her hands around her mouth. ‘Um, excuse me, but we wish to enter in order to petition the king on business of the most urgent sort. It is essential that this be dealt with with the utmost expediency.’

The face peered down again, forehead scrunched up, but the winch began to squeak and a platform drifted slowly down. When it touched the ground they both stared at the two foot square of tatty boards, roped together and held in random spots by the winch ropes.

Scarlet raised an eyebrow as she met Lara’s gaze and grinned. ‘Looks like we’ll have to get really close together.’

She felt sleazy as she said it, but Lara’s reply was a smile as she stepped onto the board and when Scarlet put her feet on, her arms went around her waist. All she could smell was Lara, which made a welcome change to the rather pungent scent of manure and unwashed bodies.

The rope went taut and they lifted off the ground, both squeaking at the same time, then laughing. The laughter set the platform swinging and Lara clung even tighter. Scarlet watched the countryside appear below them, huge fields tilled and sown, the people working in them becoming tiny dots far below.

She opted not to look down. That way lay madness and almost certainly embarrassing toilet accidents. Instead she buried her head in Lara’s shoulder and breathed her in until the platform was hauled over the edge and set down on the wall.

They shuffled off, not quite ready to let go of one another, and stood for a moment. It felt quite wonderful and entirely strange, and she could feel acutely all the places they were pressed together, as though someone were going round her body and pointing them out, places she’d never even felt before.

Finally though, they did break apart, and the view made her mouth drop open and her hand reach for Lara, who clasped it with her own and squeezed.

The city was huge. No, that didn’t cover it. Imagine huge, then do some maths thingy to make it much bigger. Like, square it or something.

From here, they could see rooftops, thatch and tile, flat stone and wooden, running all the way into the centre, where the coolest castle she had ever seen dominated the entire place. It had battlements, and towers, and gargoyles the size of cars, and almost certainly at least one hidden room, probably more.

The wall upon which they stood was a couple of metres thick and the drop on the far side was far smaller than that which they’d just scaled. They thanked the man with the dirty face and scampered down one of the wafer-thin flights of steps that led to the city floor.

As they descended the smells rose up to meet them, of food and people and fire and dirt and something far worse. Lara was right behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. She stopped, trying to grip onto the wall as she glanced back over her shoulder.

‘We’re going to be alright, aren’t we?’

Scarlet really wanted to say something reassuring, but the best she could manage was. ‘I’ll look after you.’ Judging by the look on Lara’s face, it was the right thing to say, which was weird cos the idea of her looking after anyone was laughable. She just about remembered to feed the cat, but often only after it attacked her with its bowl.

They reached the bottom, took some deep breaths, realised how bad an idea it was to breathe at all down here and headed along the wall to the enormous gates. Two guards leaned casually either side of it, swords nowhere to be seen, but playing cards clearly in evidence.

Scarlet pushed Lara forward, hoping she could repeat her earlier trick. ‘Um, excuse me, gentlemen, but we require that you open the gate, please?’

‘And why is it you require that, young lady?’

‘Our steed is waiting without, and we require his assistance, within.’

‘You ‘require his assistance?’ Clever horse, this one then, ey?’

‘He’s not a horse, he’s a unicorn.’

The guard rocked back on his heels, shaking his head and folding his arms. ‘He’s back again, is he? Well, that’s a pity. I can open the gates, for you, but you might not want to be seen in here with him. He has a history in this city, and not a good one.’

Scarlet pushed Lara aside. ‘Is that the history where the king chopped his horn off?’

‘It might well be, but seeing as he’s unlikely to have told you himself, let me ask you a question. If you know someone’s a murderer, killed a few people, do you leave him his knife, or do you take it away?’